1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to a packaging assembly. In particular, the present invention is directed to a suspension packaging assembly that includes a retention member and a frame member.
2. Description of the Related Art
Protective packaging devices are often used to protect goods from shocks and impacts during shipping or transportation. For example, when transporting articles that are relatively fragile, it is often desirable to cushion the article inside a box to protect the article from a physical impact to the box that can occur during loading, transit and unloading. In addition, when shipping articles such as computer components, it is often desirable to protect those components from dust and dirt.
In most cases, some additional structure is used to keep the article from moving uncontrollably in the box and thus incurring damage. Such additional structures include paper or plastic packing material, structured plastic foams, and foam-filled cushions, and the like. Ideally, the article to be packaged is suspended within the box so as to spaced from the walls defining the box, thus protecting the article from other foreign objects which may impact or compromise the outer walls of the box.
A need therefore exists for a simple, inexpensive yet reliable packaging assembly for suspending an article to be packaged within the interior of a shipping container.
One aspect of the present invention includes the recognition that the cost of certain processes used for manufacturing known suspension packaging devices can be sufficiently high to prohibit the use of suspension packaging with many common goods. For example, it has been known to permanently bond resilient sheet material to cardboard frames in order to produce suspension packaging devices in a variety of configurations for suspending articles within boxes. However, it is difficult and expensive to automate an assembly line for bonding such films to cardboard substrates or to perform such an assembly process manually. Additionally, certain known suspension packaging devices can be complex and require excessive training in order to properly assemble the devices. Thus, it is desirable to provide a packaging assembly which is inexpensive to manufacture and easy to assemble.
Another aspect of the present invention includes the recognition that certain known suspension packaging devices are not recyclable or reusable. For example, the suspension packaging devices noted above, which incorporate a resilient polymer film member permanently bonded to a rigid cardboard substrate, are not easily reusable or recyclable. In order to recycle such a packaging device, the film must be removed from the rigid cardboard backing so that the respective materials forming the film and the backing can be appropriately separated and shipped to an appropriate recycling facility. The process of separating the film from the rigid substrate permanently damages the backing member and/or the film since the film is permanently bonded to the backing. Thus, not only is it difficult to recycle the materials used for constructing the packaging device, it is difficult to reuse either the film or the backing individually since these materials are damaged upon the removal of the film from the backing. It is therefore desirable to provide a suspension packaging assembly which includes a retention member and a frame member that are not permanently affixed to each other.
In one mode, a frame member for a packaging assembly includes a plurality of fold lines configured to form at least one foldable portion. The foldable portion is foldable between at least a first position and a second deployed position in which the foldable portion forms a releasably engageable peripherally extending structure. By providing the frame member with a foldable portion as such, the frame member can be placed within a sleeve and folded to the second position, thus expanding the foldable portion and tightening the sleeve. As such, the frame member provides enhanced flexibility in the manner in which it can be used as a suspension packaging device.
In another mode, a packaging assembly includes a first frame member having a plurality of fold lines and a retention sleeve configured to receive the frame member. The plurality of fold lines are configured to form at least one foldable portion which is foldable between at least a first position and a second deployed position in which the foldable portion forms a peripherally extending structure within the sleeve when the frame member is received within the sleeve. By providing the frame member with a foldable portion as such, the present invention provides a suspension packaging assembly that achieves several advantages over known suspension packaging devices.
For example, since the packaging device, according to the present invention, includes a retention sleeve and a frame member having a foldable portion configured to form a peripherally extending structure within the sleeve, it is not necessary to bond the sleeve to the frame. Thus, the packaging device does not require the expensive and time consuming steps associated with permanently bonding the retention member to the frame member. Additionally, since the retention member is not required to be permanently bonded to the frame member, the manufacturing of these individual components can be performed at facilities that are located geographically distant from each other. For example, where a polymer film is used as the retention sleeve, the polymer film can be manufactured in a distant country and shipped to an assembly or a distribution facility without incurring; prohibitive shipping costs since polymer film materials typically do not have great bulk and are relatively lightweight. However, the frame members are typically formed of corrugated cardboard; a material which has relatively great bulk and weight. Thus, it can be prohibitively expensive to manufacture corrugated cardboard components at a great distance from the distribution facility. By incorporating a retention sleeve which is not permanently bonded to the frame member, the individual components of the packaging device according to the present invention can be manufactured at distant geographic locations. Each component can thus be manufactured with the greatest economic efficiency, i.e., the individual components can be manufactured at locations, which may be in foreign countries, that offer the least expensive combination of labor, raw materials, and transportation to the distribution facility.
According to another aspect of the present invention, a packaging assembly includes a retention member having pockets formed at opposite ends thereof and a frame member having first and second portions, at least one of which is rotatable with respect to the other. The first and second portions are also configured to fit within the pockets. With the first and second portions received within the pockets of the retention member, the retention member can be tightened by rotating the rotatable first or second portion. Thus, an article to be packaged can be placed between the retention member and the frame member and can be secured thereto by rotating the rotatable first or second portions of the frame member so as to tighten the retention member over the article to be packaged.
As noted above, it is advantageous to utilize with suspension packaging devices retention members that are not permanently bonded to the frame members. Thus, by providing the retention member with pockets, according to the present aspect of the invention, the packaging device does not require the costly and time consuming manufacturing steps required for bonding a retention member to a frame member. Rather, the pockets formed on the retention member can be formed, for example, but without limitation, by a simple heat sealing process, thus eliminating the need for adhesives, specialized machinery for dispensing adhesives, and the time consuming steps required for properly bonding the retention member to the frame member with an adhesive. Additionally, the packaging assembly can be conveniently disassembled for recycling or reuse.
Another aspect of the present invention involves the recognition that the economic impact of forming pockets by heat sealing, rather than adhesive, reduces the costs of such packaging devices to such an extent that these packaging devices can now be used with a wider variety of less expensive goods that benefit from such protective packaging.
For purposes of summarizing the invention and the advantages achieved over the prior art, certain objects and advantages of the invention have been described herein above. Of course, it is to be understood that not necessarily all such objects or advantages may be achieved in accordance with any particular embodiment of the invention. Thus, for example, those skilled in the art will recognize that the invention may be embodied or carried out in a manner that achieves or optimizes one advantage or group of advantages as taught herein without necessarily achieving other objects or advantages as may be taught or suggested herein.